You’ve definitely seen his face. If you aren't a Stranger Things addict, you might know him from Twilight or maybe that doomed Mortal Instruments movie. But for a certain corner of the internet, he will always be the guy who stole the show without saying a single word.
Honestly, it's kinda wild how much impact he had with basically zero dialogue.
When people talk about the Jamie Campbell Bower Harry Potter character, they are usually talking about one of the most dangerous wizards to ever pick up a wand: Gellert Grindelwald. But there is a weird misconception that he was just a background extra or some random face in a photo. In reality, Jamie is the only actor to play the character in both the original Harry Potter series and the Fantastic Beasts prequels.
He's the connective tissue between two eras of magic, and he almost didn't make it into the first movie at all.
The Stunt That Saved His Screen Time
Back in 2010, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 was filming, Jamie was just a 21-year-old actor on the rise. He had just finished Sweeney Todd and was deep into the Twilight craze. His role as the young Grindelwald was tiny. It was a flashback.
You probably remember the scene: a blonde, bird-like teenager leaping out of a window after stealing the Elder Wand from Gregorovitch.
The director, David Yates, actually offered Jamie a stunt double for that jump. Most actors would’ve taken the day off. But Jamie basically told him, "If I use a stunt double, I’m barely in this movie." He insisted on doing the jump himself just to make sure his face was actually on camera. If he hadn't been so stubborn, his version of Grindelwald might have just been a blurry mess of pixels.
Why he looked so different in 2010
If you go back and watch Deathly Hallows, Grindelwald looks like a different beast compared to the Johnny Depp or Mads Mikkelsen versions. Jamie described the look as "bird-like." The costume designers gave him this sharp, crow-like jacket and messy hair that felt more like a 19th-century punk rocker than a dark lord.
There was no heterochromia (different colored eyes) back then. That was a later addition for the Fantastic Beasts movies to make the character look more "villainous." In the original series, he just looked like a handsome, arrogant kid who knew he was better than everyone else.
The Secret Audition That Failed
Here is a fun bit of trivia: Jamie Campbell Bower almost played Harry Potter himself.
Years before he ever put on the Grindelwald coat, he auditioned for the lead role in The Sorcerer’s Stone. He was about 14 at the time. The producers asked him to tell a joke. For some reason, Jamie decided to tell a really dirty joke about a Christmas tree and... well, let's just say it didn't land well with the casting directors.
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He didn't get the part of the hero. Instead, he waited a decade to play the man who almost destroyed everything Harry stood for. Kinda poetic, right?
Returning to the Wizarding World
Most actors from the original eight films moved on. But when Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald started production in 2018, the creators realized they needed a young version of the character for the Mirror of Erised scenes.
Instead of recasting, they brought Jamie back.
This was a big deal for fans. It's rare for a franchise to keep that kind of continuity, especially when the "adult" version of the character was being played by Johnny Depp. Seeing Jamie and Toby Regbo (who played young Albus Dumbledore) together again helped ground the prequel in the history we already knew. It made that blood pact scene feel heavy. You could actually see the history between those two kids.
Why Grindelwald Matters Now
Since Jamie became a global superstar playing Vecna in Stranger Things, his brief stint in the Wizarding World has been meme-d and analyzed to death. Fans are obsessed with the parallels. Both characters are:
- Incredibly charismatic manipulators.
- Obsessed with "the greater good" (or their version of it).
- Driven by a deep sense of betrayal.
If you watch his performance in Stranger Things and then go back to those three seconds of him stealing the Elder Wand, you can see the same intensity. He has this way of looking at the camera like he’s already won the fight before it even started.
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The legacy of the role
Even though he has very little screen time, Jamie Campbell Bower is essentially the face of Grindelwald’s "golden age." He represents the time before the war—the time when Dumbledore was still in love and the world was full of potential instead of shadows.
It’s a specific kind of magic he brought to the screen. He didn't need a monologue. He just needed a window to jump out of and a smirk.
Key Takeaways for Potter Fans
- The Actor: Jamie Campbell Bower played young Gellert Grindelwald.
- The Movies: He appeared in Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) and The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018).
- The "Bird" Look: His costume in the first film was intentionally designed to look like a crow.
- The Stunt: He did his own window jump to ensure he actually appeared in the film.
- The Dumbledore Connection: He is the only actor to physically portray the "Summer of Love" era of the Dumbledore/Grindelwald relationship across both franchises.
If you’re looking to deep-dive into the lore, your best bet is to re-read the "Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore" chapter in the seventh book while keeping Jamie's portrayal in mind. It changes how you view those early, idealistic days of the two most powerful wizards in history. You can also track down the deleted scenes from Deathly Hallows to see a few extra frames of him that didn't make the theatrical cut.